Clark Ridge itself starts at the intersection of Buford Road FS 245 and Clark Ridge Road FS 822. Take a right and begin climbing up FS 822, which at this point is a rough doubletrack. After a short climb you will top out and enjoy a nice ride through a wildflower meadow before descending towards a wooded area. As you enter the woods, you will come to a "trail closed to motorized vehicles" sign and a large tree in the road and commonly a muddy pond. Work your way around this pond, and over the tree, and the singletrack trail will present itself on the other side. You are on Clark Ridge now. The trail is generally well defined, but at times can get a little faint and lacks any consistent trail signage. Bring a map and study it a bit before your ride and you will have no problems. As you ride the singletrack, you are traveling down a ridge between two steep canyons. Take a sharp right hand turn on a well defined singletrack. This singletrack will arrive at a small muddy stream crossing. Cross this stream and begin a short hike a bike to your left up a steep slope. Once at the top of the hike a bike, enjoy more nice singletrack before descending a very steep, technical section. Be careful here, you are in the middle of no where and are far away from help. At the bottom of this descent, cross another small creek and begin a short climb up a singletrack trail and arrive at the confusing intersection of FS 820 and the Mansfield Ditch trail. Here is where the options begin. See below for various ride options.
Clark Ridge Loop parking at the top of Buford Road: Drive Buford Road FS 245 for approximately 8 miles until you arrive at the top of the road and a large gravel parking lot and a restroom. From here you have two options, take the West Elk Multiuse trail which is a fun rolling double track to the intersection with the Bar HL Road. Take a right on Bar HL Road and a quick left on Buford Road and continue on to Clark Ridge Road. The other option is to stay on Buford Road all the way to the intersection of Clark Ridge Road. If you chose this option, when you get to the end of your Clark Ridge ride, you will need to climb FS 820 road up to Buford Road, and take a left for a quick spin back to your car at the top of Buford Road.
Clark Ridge Big Loop Combining Mansfield Ditch. Park at the bottom of Buford Road at the cattle guard and end of pavement. Climb Buford Road to the top. As described above either take the West Elk Multiuse trail or Buford Road to the Clark Ridge Trail FS 822. Ride Clark Ridge as described. When you arrive at the end of Clark Ridge, rather than climbing up FS 820, take a left on Mansfield Ditch trail and enjoy. See the description for Mansfield Ditch trail which will get you back to your car at the bottom of Buford Road.
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